New Beginnings
by Fist-it-Out
Summary: In the sequel to Second Chances, follow Addison, Zed, and Annabelle as they get accustomed to their new lives together, going through the ups and downs of relationships, parenting, and friendships.


**A/N: ****Hello welcome back for the next installment of the teacher!au! If you don't follow my tumblr, here's what I posted several days ago!**

**If you didn't know, this is the original plot of the teacher!au:**

**_Zed and Addison meet. Zed has a daughter and Addison is her teacher. They flirt and hang it and finally, at the end of the school year, they're finally allowed to date. After several months of dating, they get engaged, they get married, they live happily ever after._**

**Which means that all of part two (this sequel) was supposed to happen in the original story, but then the other idea came and trumped this one. So now you get a whole fluffy story! And this one will be a multi-chapter!**

**This first chapter starts around August of the year Second Chances ended. Enjoy this! Sporadic updates (like everything else I write!)**

* * *

—_Addison_—

Addison perks up at the sound of a car door closing. Annabelle does too, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "Daddy's home!" Annabelle exclaims.

"You ready?"

Annabelle nods enthusiastically and they both jump up from the couch, racing to the kitchen. They slide into their chairs just as the door unlocks and Zed steps in. "Honey? Child? I'm home!"

Addison and Annabelle exchange a look and hold back their laughter. Annabelle leans back in her chair and calls, "We're in the kitchen, Daddy!"

Zed comes into the kitchen and grins. "Oh? Dinner already?" he asks.

"Only after you you gimme a kiss!" Annabelle says.

Zed chuckles and goes over to her, planting a kiss on the top of her head. He then goes to Addison, leaning down and pressing a kiss on her lips. Addison smiles into the kiss right before he pulls back and stands straight. "So what's for dinner, ladies?"

"Me and Addy made steak," Annabelle says. "I got to mash the potatoes!"

Zed raised an eyebrow at Addison. "They're very delicious," she assures him. "Come, sit, we've been waiting forever."

Zed sliced into the chair next to her just as she gets up, going over to the ice where the steaks had been left to keep warm. She pulls them out and plates them, bringing the plates to the table. Annabelle gets up and brings the bowl of mashed potatoes to the table and Addison gets the vegetables from the stove.

"Zed, guess what else we have?" Addison asks.

He turns to face her and asks, "What?"

She pulls the to go box out of the microwave and pulls the top open. "Zed, would you do me the honor of having onion rings with me?"

Zed laughs, which isn't the reaction Addison was hoping for. She was hoping he'd take the hint and propose. She's been pulling he same trick for weeks now (with the help of Annabelle, of course) and nothing.

"Addison, I'd be delighted to have onion rings with you," he says.

She fights the urge to roll her eyes. She loved him, but he could be so clueless sometimes.

* * *

After dinner, they gather in front of the television to watch a movie, which they let Annabelle pick. It ended up being the live action version of _Beauty and the Beast_, but not even halfway through, Zed pauses it. Addiosn doesn't mind, considering she's seen the movie several times and wasn't that invested in it, but looks at him with a raised eyebrow. He nods his head to Annabelle, who's under his arm and dozing off. She hasn't even noticed that the movie is paused, which means it's time for her to go to bed.

"Alright Belle," Zed says, sitting her up. She wakes up enough to ask about the movie, to which he responds, "We'll finish it tomorrow. You're falling asleep _and_ you've got school tomorrow."

"I don't wanna go to school," she complains, having gotten used to homeschooling with Addison for the past five months.

Addison leans over and says, "But you'll get to see your friends again. And you'll have Mr. Harris this year, who's totally awesome."

Annabelle yawns, clearly tired but her eyes sparkling like she's ready to fight all night. "I wanna have _you_! You're the best teacher ever!"

"You'll have me again," Addison assures her. "When your fourteen and in high school."

Annabelle's mouth falls open and she crosses her arms. "That's gonna take _forever_!"

Addison laughs and Zed stands up, turning back and lifting Annabelle up like a sack of potatoes. Annabelle grunts in response and Zed and Addison both laugh. Zed turns back to Addison and nods toward the hallway. She gets up and they walk to Annabelle's room, Zed dumping his daughter into her bed.

"Ugh, Daddy," she complains once she hits the mattress. Zed and Addison both ignore her, so she sighs and crawls under her covers.

"Go to sleep, Princess," Zed says.

Annabelle hums and Zed and Addison watch her close her eyes and snuggle into bed. They wait a moment to make sure she isn't going to try and pull a fake on them before sneaking out of her room. Zed closes the door, then they head to the kitchen.

"You want something?" Zed asks once Addison sits down.

"Nah," she says, "not in the business of eating so close to bedtime."

"You sure?" he turns from the cabinet, holding a bottle of wine that Addison recognizes from Bucky's collection. He waves it around with a devilish grin that makes her laugh.

"I've got the good stuff," he says.

"Careful, that bottle is worth more than your mortgage," Addison teases. "Does Bucky know you have that?"

Zed nods and sets the bottle down on the table. He turns back to get some glasses—which he also took from Bucky—from the cabinet. "It was a 'congrats on finally getting with my super hot cousin here's some good wine' gift," he says.

Addison pulls a face that makes him laugh. He pours them both a glass, then puts the bottle back. He sits down next to Addison.

"Here's to the first day of school," he says, raising his glass.

"You know what else it is?"

"What?"

"Exactly eight months since we first kissed and you confessed your undying love for me," she teases, making him chuckle.

"Eight months huh?"

Addison nods. "It took me a whole hour to figure that out. You should be proud."

"I'm always proud of you, Addy," he says.

A slow smile spreads over her face. They're both leaning in, their wine forgotten as they kiss, slow and gentle. Addison pulls back before it can get too deep, smiling at him. "Sorry," she says, "but we both have work in the morning. I can't show up for my first day of teaching high schoolers with hickeys."

Zed chuckles and leans back, picking up his wine. "It'd show those stupid teens that you're young and hip."

Addison laughs with furrowed brows. "You are such an old man, Zed."

"Hush and drink your wine, Sweetcheeks," he jokes.

"You're lucky you're so cute, otherwise I'd beat you up."

Zed laughs and drinks from his glass, then says, "You know I love you, right?"

"I love you too, Babe," she says, taking her own sip of her wine.

They converse and drink wine for a little short of an hour before they finish their drinks and Addison calls it a night. "I'd better head home," she says.

"Allow me to escort you, my darling," he says, "wouldn't want anything bad to happen on your journey." He winks and she laughs.

"That journey across the street is so dangerous," she says sarcastically.

Zed chuckles and stand, putting away their glasses. He turns back to her and she stands. They go to the front room and they put their shoes on; Addison grabs her house keys from the tray and Zed opens the door for her, letting her step out before following her, closing the door. He grabs her hand and they start walking down the driveway toward her house across the street.

"I'm kinda sad you're going back to work," he says. "I'm gonna miss seeing you all day everyday."

"We stopped seeing each other all day everyday once _you _went back to work, Necrodopolus," Addison points out.

"I'm gone for four hours, twice a week," he interjects.

"At least now you can work more hours and get that money money!" Addison jokes, making him laugh. She looks at him and smirks a little. "I wonder what a little extra money here and there could do?"

He looks at her, clearly confused, as if she hadn't been dropping hints about marrying him for weeks. It was all Annabelle's plan, really. Like onion rings once a week, and all the little comments both her and Annabelle would make about onion rings but mostly rings. Maybe they weren't being clear. Zed was, before anything, a _guy_. Hints never worked so well for guys. They weren't so good at reading between the lines.

"I mean, I do like little gifts. And gestures of love. Like promises, and futures. I wonder…" Addison ends with a blissful sigh, looking away from him as she thought. She glanced back to see him with an amused smile and an eyebrow raised at her.

"Is there something I'm missing, Addy?" Zed asks.

Everything inside her screams '_YES_' but she ends up slumping her shoulders. "Nothing," she mumbles.

"Are you sure?"

Addison nods. "I'm sure, but thank you for being so concerned. I appreciate it."

Zed smiles and kisses her cheek. They both stop walking before the steps and turn to face each other. "I'll see you in the morning," she says.

"Sleep well: you've got a long day tomorrow."

Addison giggles; leans forward and gives him a slow but innocent kiss. She smiles and pulls away. "I love you," she says as a form of goodnight.

"I love you too," he says with a smile. He gives her hand one final squeeze before letting go, waiting for her to go inside.

—_Zed_—

Once Addison was inside, Zed sighs and stuffs his hands in his pocket, feeling the velvety box in his pocket. He sighs; he should've done it tonight. She just gives him so many opportunities and he waits too long and—ugh, at this rate he'll never get married. He loves Addison, loved her with all his heart. He's been sure about marrying her since she fell asleep on his couch back in May and ended up staying the night, sleeping in his pajamas and eating breakfast with them. He just knew he wanted to see them like that everyday for the rest of his life.

But he can't figure out why he keeps hesitating. His heart is telling him to just do it, his daughter is telling him to do it, _everyone_ is telling him to do it. But then there's always that tiny part of his brain that keeps making him wait.

He turns and heads back home. He'll do it tomorrow.

* * *

He doesn't. Addison drops obvious hints for days but he just can't do it. He just keeps waiting and waiting. He doesn't even know for what anymore. He just can't do it, not yet.

"Seems to me like you don't wanna get married," Eliza says on their Friday lunch.

"But I do!"

Eliza raised an eyebrow at him. "You've got doubt, Zed. Which is totally fine when you're making huge life decisions."

"I don't have doubt!" he exclaims. "Eliza, I love Addison. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want her to be a permanent figure in Annabelle's life. Annabelle loved her. She looks at her like Addison is her mother. Pops loves her, Zoey loves her. Even Liv and Jake love her! I have no hesitation as to why I wouldn't want to marry her."

Eliza just gives him this look that makes him second guess himself. He thinks back on what else could be important to getting married.

"I don't know, Eliza, I'm sure I want to marry her."

"But…?"

Zed sighs, slumping in his chair. "I'm sure I want to marry Addison, but…but…but I think, I think I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of, Zed?"

He looks down at his food. It dawns on him what all the doubt was about, why he never could bring himself to propose. He looks up with wide eyes and says, "I'm afraid of losing her."

"How so?"

"Because…because I loved Liz. And we were going to get married. And then she died. And…I think I'm afraid of that happening again. I can't lose Addison. Like I almost lost Belle. Like I lost Liz."

Eliza smiles sympathetically. She reaches across the table and pats his hand. "Talk to her about it. She needs to know what's going through her head, Zed."

"I mean…we've only been dating for eight months. What if she thinks I'm crazy for wanting to get married so soon?"

"The way I see it, you guys have been dating since the day you met. As long as you count that first date. So technically, you're almost a full year."

"That's fair."

"So y'all to her and stop spoiling my lunch. We don't get to do this often, Z."

Zed nods. "So how are things in Eliza land?"

Eliza grins and says, "I've been editing forever for you to ask. I went on a date a few nights ago with this _amazing_ woman."

Zed gasps and Eliza's eyes widen. "Oh my god E, that's amazing! How did it go? Is she nice? Is she cute? Is she funny? Do you think she might be the one?"

"Woah, Zed, slow down." Eliza laughs nervously. "We had one date. And it went…well? I think."

"You think?"

"We haven't made plans for a second date or anything," Eliza said, "but we have been texting."

"Eliza, that's great!"

Eliza grins. "It is, isn't it? Looks like you're not the only one who's hitting big in the love field."

Zed laughs, shaking his head. "Whatever _that_ means."

* * *

Saturday was dinner date day, when Zed, Addison, and Annabelle would go out for dinner and talk about their week. In Zed's mind, it was family dinner night. But he was afraid that if he ever called it that, Addison would freak out.

Before dinner, Zed drops Annabelle off at Emily Jackson's house for a play date. '_The first of many_,' he hopes. He doesn't want Annabelle's only friend to be Bree's son, Matthew. She didn't make many friends her first year there, especially after she missed so many days and was basically expelled, and Zed and Addison decided it would be best to put her in a different school. But Emily Jackson seemed nice enough, and her parents seemed to get along well with Zed and Addison. So there was well placed hope.

With Annabelle out of the house, he invites Addison over for the conversation they definitely need to have about their future. She has a key, so Zed focuses on setting up for his master plan instead of being timely. As luck would have it, once he's finished setting up, Addison walks in and calls, "Hey Babe, where are you?"

"Kitchen!"

He makes some quick, last minute touches before turning around and grinning as Addison walks in. She looks at the table—at the crackers and cookies and whipped cream and the orange juice—then at him. She's still smiling by furrows her brows in confusion. "Uh, what's going on?"

"Annabelle is hanging out with her friends," Zed explains, "so I figured now would be a perfect time to play—drum roll please."

Addison snorts but hits her thighs for his drum roll. He laughs, throws his arms open and announces, "The Zed Necrodopolus Not-Newlywed Game: Dating Edition!"

Addison blinks in surprise. "The what?"

Zed's arms drop to his sides. "The—it's—Basically each of us asks questions about anything, specifically the future of this relationship, we answer them honestly. We don't reveal our answers until the end to remain honest."

"So…like a conversation?"

"This is more fun!"

Addison giggles and walks to him, stretching up and kissing his nose. "If you're excited, then I'm excited. But you'll have to go first so I can have an idea of what to do."

Zed laughs and nods. "Sounds fair."

Half an hour later, they call an end to their game, mostly because the snacks had run out. Zed was glad he opted for the orange juice and not anything alcoholic because of how fast they went through their drinks.

They're going to read their answers aloud, which is way better than the alternative of switching notepads. The thought of Addison reading his answers all at once makes him want to vomit, which is crazy.

"Answer time," Zed announces. "I know I asked the first question but your first question was _way_ better."

Addison laughs and rolls her eyes. "It was stupid."

He ignored her and says, "For dinner tonight, I was thinking that new pizza place downtown."

"That crazy 'Cause I was thinking pizza too."

Zed smiles; he really loves this girl. "Okay so you asked: what's my opinion on living in Seabrook forever?" Addison reads. "You first."

"I moved my daughter to Seabrook in hopes that this could be our forever home. I wasn't planning on moving anywhere until at least Annabelle graduates."

"I figured you'd say that," Addison said.

"Well, what do you say?"

"I say that…I threw out my life plan a while ago and I've been on their wild ride called life for the past four years." Addison shrugs. "So me staying here depends on what Seabrook has to offer me."

She's talking about him. She _has _to be talking about him and their relationship.

"Okay, next question," he says. "You asked: what's the next step for us? You wanna go first?"

Addison shakes her head, and if he weren't so nervous he would have laughed.

"Next step? I…I think the next step is marriage," he says bluntly.

Addison blinks once, her eyes shining with hope. "You do?"

Zed nods, but bites his lips nervously. "But, um," he sees her face fall and instantly regrets everything. Hrbonly continued because he knows he had to say it. Addison needs to know. "I'm scared, Addison."

She tilts her head. "Scared?"

Zed nods. "I…I was in love with Liz. We were going to get married. And we had Annabelle. And…I lost her. I lost the love of my life."

"Are you scared of losing me too?"

"Yeah. I mean, everything that's happened in the past few years have just been fucking awful. I lost my fiancé, I almost lost my daughter. I don't want to lose you too."

Addison smiles softly. She puts her notepad down and grabs his hands, her thumb rubbing over his knuckles. "Zed," she says. "I love you. So much. And I understand that you're afraid of losing me. The universe has been so unkind to you. It's time for you to get your happily ever after, Zed."

"I couldn't handle losing you, Addison."

"Me neither," she sighs. "Neither of is know what'll happen in the future, but we can't live our lives in fear of what could happen."

Zed looks at her nervously, but she's still smiling, her eyes shining and a soft smile on her face. He can't help but chuckle; leave it to Addison to reassure him.

"Do you wanna get married?" he asks.

Addison giggles. "Of course I wanna marry you, Zed."

He jokingly lets out a breath. He lets go of one of her hands and reached into his pocket, pulling out the black ring box.

"Wait you were serious?"

"Of course I was," Zed says. He looks at her, his hopes falling and his brows furrowed, and asks, "Weren't you?"

"I mean _yeah_, but I didn't think you had the ring with you."

"I've had it with me since we went to New York, in May," he admits.

Addison's eyes go wide and he's afraid he's said something wrong. Before he can take it all back, she says, "You've been wanting to marry me for almost five months and I'm just finding out about this _now_?"

He laughs and Addison scowls at him. "I'm being serious!"

Zed laughs harder, letting go of her hands and leaning back. He can't even really understand why he's laughing but he also can't stop. When he looks back at Addison, she's pouting and his heart often completely. He's so in love with her.

He calms down his laughing enough to ask, "Since we're both clear on the marriage thing, can I wait to actually propose to you? To make it really special?"

"Well I _guess_ I can wait a couple of more days."

Zed chuckles, leans over and kissed her quickly. "I love you, Addison."

"How could you not," she mutters jokingly.

* * *

He lasts a good five and a half hours. They went to Sami's Pizza Bar for dinner with Annabelle. Addison slips his daughter a few sips of soda when she thinks he's not looking, but he's is. It's funny and Zed doesn't mind because it'll be Addison problem later. After dinner, they go to a park in the art district of Seabrook called Zombietown, which took up just about the entire West side. Zed remembers coming here a lot when he was a kid, especially at this time of year, because of the art exhibit.

"Woah," Addison breathes out. "What is this place?"

It's dark outside but there's a soft glow of the lights all around the park. Annabelle runs ahead of them, just far enough that Zed can still see her.

"It's a Zombie Light Garden," Zed explains as they enter.

Addison turns her head to look at him. Zed steps up onto one of the platforms, holding his hand out for her. "Where are we going?" she asks, confused.

"For a walk in the park."

Her lips twitch with a slight smile. She takes his hand and he pulls her up onto the platform. There are uncovered light bulbs all over, and in the light, Addison looks truly beautiful. They walk around the platforms, looking around the park. Annabelle is somewhere deeper in the park, laughing loudly (because of the little bits of soda she had).

Addison slips away from him, just like Annabelle had, and goes around the other side of the circular platform. The platforms are made out of old construction equipment, so Zed has to suck to catch sight of Addison again. She ducks too and giggles when she catches sight of him. Addison starts back toward him, shaking her head.

It's a split second decision really. He pulls out his ring box as she comes around and, once she's standing in front of him, he drops down on one knee and opens it toward her.

"Do you wanna get married, Addy?" he asks.

* * *

**A/N: ****So what'd you guys think? Did you enjoy this chapter? Excited for the story? Let me know! The responses on Second Chances were phenomenal! I love you all, see you next time.**

**Okay fine, here's a sneak peak for the next chapter!**

**"**_Is Addy gonna be my Mommy now?" Annabelle whispers._

_"Yeah," Zed whispers in response._

_"So I can call her Mommy now?"_

_"Well you should ask her before you do it to make sure she's okay with it," Zed advises._

_Addison smiles softly, pushes off the wall and goes into Annabelle's room. Zed raises an eyebrow at her while Annabelle's sits up. "I couldn't help but eavesdrop," Addison says. "Of course you can call me Mommy."_

_Annabelle beams, her grip on her stuffed bunny (Thumper) tightening. "Really! I've never had a Mommy before."_

_"I've never had a little princess either," Addison says, "but your daddy's been a great daddy already, so it won't be too hard."_

_Zed coos and kisses her cheek._

_"Okay Belle, lets talk more in the morning," Zed says. "Sleep tight, Princess."_

"Goodnight Daddy." Annabelle turns and smiles at Addison. "And goodnight new Mommy."

**I hope this fluffy goodness is gonna get y'all excited for the next chapter! Until then!**


End file.
